viewpoint
Software vs. Appliance?
A range of voices weigh in on the continuing debate. By Marc Cooper Marc Cooper is a senior engineer at Citigroup responsible for global system conferencing standards. His years of experience span feature film sound recording, broadcast television production, and UC development and implementation within the enterprise.
This edition of “Viewpoint” focuses on industry trends in videoconferencing system solutions—namely, purpose-built appliances versus PC-based software codecs. We have seen these competing paradigms again and again over the years within the AV industry. This time, however, the issue has been made particularly interesting due to a proliferation of offerings from cloud-based providers like Zoom; the introduction of Microsoft Teams, which requires a Windows 10 platform; and the popularity of smaller, lower-cost huddle rooms. It is interesting to see the popularity and growth of PC-based software solutions as a competent offering for inexpensive small-room situations. And, yet, we are also seeing some very robust, purpose-built, appliance-based solutions at ever-lower costs. What is right for your organization? The answer might have a lot to do with how you are set up to run your service, how you manage your endpoints and support your clients, and what your end users require to conduct their business successfully. As someone who has been in this business for more than 20 years, I have seen videoconferencing room systems migrate in form factor. My first experiences required the integration of very large, standalone, appliance-based video codecs with displays, cameras, PTZ units, control systems, microphones, external echo cancellers, amplifiers, speakers, and network and dialing components. Each component was a standalone device that had to be incorporated into a complete system. It was complex, it was expensive, and it required tremendous resources to operate and maintain, and to support the end user. Eventually, manufacturers like CLI, PictureTel, Polycom and VTEL introduced integrated systems that bundled all these components into a complete box solution. Not too long after that, I remember seeing the first PCbased personal videoconferencing systems. They used PCs www.ITAVReport.com
(of course), and they came bundled with speakerphones and headsets, as well as small desktop cameras. They used the PC monitor as a display. I was amazed that the video communication could be ported to the computer—a device that I used for spreadsheets, word processing and email. At first, we used specialized Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) cards, and then we transitioned to audio- and video-over-IP. Initially, these PC-based systems were operated like all computers, using a mouse and a keyboard, whereas room systems had specialized interfaces that could be operated more comfortably at the table (usually with an infrared (IR) remote or a dedicated push-button or touchpanel). Now, we are seeing room systems that run on PCs, along with external mic systems and touchpanel interfaces that are more suitable for the conference room. Many of these PC-based soft-codec systems are tied to a powerful cloud-based service that has sophisticated backend management, including virtual meeting rooms (VMRs), call monitoring and routing, redundant reliable service and more. So, where is all this going? What should we be investing in and planning for? First, let me say that, in my organization, we have done a tremendous amount of work to develop support models for our appliance-based systems. We have dedicated support teams whose members know voice-over-IP (VoIP) and the associated hardware. We have standardized on a user interface that is in use globally. We have systems to monitor our endpoints and integrated peripherals proactively. We get great value from our built-in, high-end microphones and playback systems. In fact, we have been able to utilize new, smaller, purposebuilt, appliance-based solutions at a competitive cost. Changing to a PC-based software-codec solution would require a lot of planning, changes to our support models, and creative solutions to maintain the proper user experience and interoperability. The rate at which technology and the market are changing today is unprecedented. We all have to be prepared for whatever direction the market takes. Enterprise technology managers, product managers, engineers, manufacturers and end users are not excepted, either. It is important that all of us always keep an eye on maintaining/improving the user experience, regardless of the technology solution. The free market will dictate the products built and supported by manufacturers. Whoever creates that better, more affordable mousetrap will win. As managers and technologists, we must make sure that our solutions don’t fall short of our end users’ needs, regardless of the technology being used. As per the name “Viewpoint,” we have striven to get a variety of views, each a unique perspective that, often, is influenced by how the respondent is positioned within the industry. The participants are end users, manufacturers, service providers and an analyst. I hope each of these viewpoints provides some insight into trends, the pros/cons of the available solutions and the choices we face. Spring 2019
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